Birthlessness, the percentage of those who want only one child and those who renounce having one grows by 9 points

The great unknown of parenthood. There is a 9-point increase in the percentage of those who want only one child (24%) and those who renounce having one (25%). Joy is the prevailing emotion linked to parenthood (50%), but down 9 percentage points; on the other hand, concern (up 4 points) and anxiety (up 3 points) are on the rise, especially among the under-30s. Too low salaries and the rising cost of living and the absence of parenting support services have a negative impact. Women are the most affected: 81% fear having to give up work.

This is what emerges from the FragilItalia Report 'Having a child today', produced by Area Studi Legacoop in collaboration with Ipsos, based on the results of a survey conducted on a sample (800 people aged 18 and over) representative of the Italian population to test their opinions on the subject. "The news is that it is not so much or only the lack of desire that contributes to the birth rate, but an economic and social context that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to transform that desire into a concrete choice," says Simone Gamberini, president of Legacoop.

The survey, which updates a survey carried out two years ago, reveals that more than a third of young people under 35 want to have two children, but there is a 9-point increase in the percentage of those who only want one child (24%) or who renounce the prospect of becoming parents altogether (25%). The decline in the desire for a large family is accompanied by a marked change in the emotional experience linked to parenthood: joy, while remaining the prevailing emotion (at 50%), is down 9 percentage points, while concern (up 4 points, to 31%, but 44% for the working class) and anxiety (up 3 points, to 23%, but 31% in the working class) are on the rise. This trend is particularly evident for the under-30s, where worry is expressed by 38% and anxiety by 30%.

The report focuses on the factors that can most influence the decision not to have children. Among the economic reasons, in first place are salaries that are too low and the rising cost of living (91%), followed by the lack of job stability and work organisation that is incompatible with the idea of having children (89%), the objective difficulty of reconciling work and family (88%), the difficulty and cost of having a decent home (85%), the lack of economic support from the state (84%), the lack of public support to deal with the cost of raising children (83%), the fear of losing their jobs and the cost of educating their children (80%). Young people and the lower and middle classes, in particular, express more distrust towards a system that does not seem able to guarantee stability and prospects.

On the social front, influencing the decision not to have children are the difficulty in reconciling work and family (87%, rising to 91% among the under-30s), the lack of parenting support services such as crèches and full-time schools (83%), the lack of family-friendly policies in the workplace (80%), and the disappearance of the 'traditional' family where grandparents looked after their grandchildren (72%).